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Duncan was the co-chair, along with John Capobianco of Fleishman-Hillard, of an advisory panel that developed a special report, Unlocking the Public Service Economy in Ontario, released by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, MAXIMUS Canada and KPMG.

The report calls on the provincial government to seriously consider alternative service delivery, involving the private sector, for certain programs where improved technology could bring significant savings.

“They will be compelled to look more at alternative service delivery,” Duncan told reporters at Queen’s Park, adding he wishes the former Dalton McGuinty Liberal government had pursued this option more aggressively.

“We believe that with the right choices and the right deals, alternative service delivery is one additional tool any of the political parties will have in their quiver as they attempt to meet rising demands for public transit in the Greater Toronto Area and infrastructure across the province,” he said.

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“We do say in the document that there are obviously going to be certain limits, that not every government service is an appropriate candidate.”

Duncan was eager to explain that what he and the report are advocating is not privatization which, he noted, is the full divestment of a public asset.

Duncan pointed to the successes of Teranet, an online services company providing access to Ontario’s electronic land registration system, but acknowledged another public-private partnership, ORNGE air ambulance, was wrought with financial mismanagement.

The 39-page report says many countries that have joined hands with the private sector have saved more than 20 per cent in service delivery costs by employing alternate models in areas such as prisons, health services and administrative services.

The former Mike Harris Progressive Conservative government experimented with contracting out the operation of a provincial jail in Penetanguishene but after a few years of being plagued with problems the jail was returned to public hands.

Duncan said public-private partnerships are not ideologically driven, noting that governments of all stripes have introduced alternative service delivery where needed.

“Finland uses private providers for various administrative services, Norway allows private firms to operate publicly-funded hospitals. The bulk of Denmark’s emergency services are now provided by a private not-for-profit company,” he said.

While Ontario’s public labour unions have decried these partnerships, Duncan said some countries have guaranteed public sector workers an offer of employment, the same or better pay and benefits, including a pension plan and the option to return to government within two years.

The report says areas most suitable for partnerships in Ontario are areas of service delivery, including health care billing, issuing drivers’ licenses and outpatient medical procedures.

“Despite international successes, Ontario lags behind many other countries when it comes to adopting innovative alternative service delivery models,” Allan O’Dette, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.

“If we’re going to overcome our challenges, including our growing debt, we need to find ways to be more efficient and, quite simply, to do more with less.”

In 2010, the then Dalton McGuinty Liberal government abandoned the SuperCorp initiative,

Jenna Mannone, a spokeswoman for Government Services Minister John Milloy, said the government has several partnerships with the private sector, including the majority of ServiceOntario outlets as well as Teranet.

“These successful partnerships have helped leverage private sector investments, enhanced customer service, reduced costs to the people of Ontario and created efficiencies. Our government is always looking for additional partnership opportunities with the private sector that balance the public’s interests,” she told the Star.

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